The issue is so-called “equity of access” and there is a view that the health system does not adequately address all the issues in deciding an individual’s place on a surgical waiting list.
Before the introduction of the Equity Adjuster Tool, surgical specialties had their own scoring system which was based on clinical need.
Put simply, the more seriously sick you were, the more rapidly progressive your condition, the greater the impact it would have on your survival and quality of life, the more urgently you received treatment. This is clinical need.
